A Reflection by Fr. Len Altilia, SJ
After several years in vocation ministry, I reflect back on the experience and realize that it has been very blessed. It has filled me with life and with hope for the future of the Church, for the future of religious life and priesthood in the Church, and for the future of the Society of Jesus. There are a lot of wonderful people out there who are searching with honesty and generosity to discover how they can best serve God and God’s people.
But I have also become aware of the confusion that exists about just what a vocation is. Is it a direct ‘calling’ from God? Is it like a career? How do I know if I have a vocation? What does it feel like? If I think I have a vocation, what should I do about it? These, and others like them, are all questions that I hear in conversations with people, especially young people. So here is my attempt to offer some clarification about the nature of vocation and ‘what it feels like’.
The first and most important point is that every Christian has a vocation that comes from our baptism. We are called, by virtue of the life in Christ that was given to us through the waters of baptism and the anointing with oil, to proclaim the name of Jesus and to share the Good News of salvation.
God raised him high and gave him the name that is above all other names so that all beings... should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God. (Phil. II, 9-11)
We are all called, by virtue of our baptism, to live a life that expresses the love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ.
Love one another as I have loved you. (Jn. XV, 12)
We all share this common vocation as members of the community of faith that professes Jesus Christ as Lord.
Each of us has a unique way of living that common Christian vocation, particularized as it is by our personality, our experience, our unique configuration of strengths and weaknesses, of talents and limitations. But, just how do I go about discovering my unique vocation? Or, as it is sometimes asked, how do I know what God wants me to do, what God’s will is for me? Phrasing the question this way can give the mistaken and misleading impression that there is a divine plan for us hidden in God’s mind and that we are on some sort of ‘treasure hunt’ to find that hidden plan.
What, in fact, God wants for us and from us is very simple: to live the Gospel in our daily life, to be faithful witnesses of God’s love, and to serve God’s people with generosity and compassion (cf. Matt. 25). It is up to us to determine how we can best do that, how we can cooperate with God’s love and God’s life within us most generously, most honestly, most authentically. Given this understanding, we can say that our vocation is not something outside of ourselves that we have to search for, as if it were a hidden treasure. Rather it is something within us that we can discover by understanding ourselves, our life, our experience and most especially our experience of God.
To put it another way, the story of our vocation is woven into the fabric of our life. By reading our life story from a faith perspective, we can discover how God has been at work within our ordinary experience, how God’s love has been mediated to us through others, how God’s grace has affirmed certain aspects of our personality and certain talents, how God’s presence has been with us in our various experiences. As we trace the thread of God’s presence in our life we can begin to see the direction that our life should take if it is to be faithful to this personal experience of God that is unique to each of us, yet consistent with the experience of our faith community.
For the largest percentage of Christians, that direction leads to the choice of marriage and family life, the most common vocation. For some it leads to the decision to remain single. For others it leads to the choice to serve God’s people in ordained ministry. And for still others it results in the decision to consecrate their life to God by vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. (These last two are what most people mean when they use the word ‘vocation’.) Whatever form your vocation takes, it only makes sense if it emerges from your personal experience of God, from the on-going relationship between you and God that has been part of your life experience. Finding your vocation means finding the most authentic, faithful and honest way of living that relationship, of honouring the truth of God in you.
Obviously this means that the process of discovering your vocation is a spiritual process, not simply a rational evaluation of options. Therefore, it requires that you pray, both to know and recognize God in your life, and more importantly to deepen your personal relationship with God. Through prayer let God become your close, personal, intimate friend, and out of that friendship will emerge the understanding of the path your life should follow.
If that path points in the direction of priesthood and/or religious life, don’t be afraid to follow it. If this is the best way for you to express the truth of your relationship with God, your choice will be blessed by joy and consolation. That doesn’t mean there won’t be struggles and challenges, but you will find, as you engage those struggles and challenges, that God’s grace and love sustain and support you. The more faithful we are to God, the more freely and generously we cooperate with God’s grace and love, the more joy we find in our life.
May God, who has begun this good work in you, bring it to fulfillment. (Phil. I, 6)